Sunday, February 03, 2013

Grassroots Tories take gay-marriage protest to No10

Here is the letter delivered today to the Prime Minister on behalf of the tens of thousands of troubled and disaffected Conservatives who are concerned (to put it mildly) by the proposal to introduce gay marriage. It is signed by very senior Tory volunteers, past and present:

Dear Prime Minister,

We write to you as a body of long serving activists and volunteers of the Conservative Party with deep concern about the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, to be considered by Parliament on 5 February 2013.

You will be aware of the level of controversy and division of opinion that surrounds these proposals in the country at large. However, we write specifically of our concerns about the growing discord within the Conservative Party over this issue.

We feel very strongly that the decision to bring this Bill before Parliament has been made without adequate debate or consultation with either the membership of the Conservative Party or with the country at large. We are of the clear view that there is no mandate for this Bill to be passed in either the 2010 Conservative Manifesto or the 2010 Coalition Agreement and that it is being pushed through Parliament in a manner which a significant proportion of Conservative Party members find extremely distasteful and contrary to the principles of both the Party and the best traditions of our democracy.

The decision to redefine the institution of marriage, without proper consultation and consideration of all consequences, intended and unintended, comes across as questionable and impatient. Moreover, to do so now, when the economy remains in an extremely perilous state, when the future of Britain’s position within the European Union and the integrity of our own Union is in question and when the Party trails 10% behind Labour in the latest polls, is a policy that a very significant number of Conservatives cannot support.

A ComRes poll published this weekend reports that 20% of those who voted Conservative in 2010 agree with the statement “I would have considered voting Conservative at the next election but will definitely not if the Coalition Government legalises same-sex marriage”.

In October 2012 ComRes found that 71% of Conservative Association Chairmen sensed that party members in their constituency opposed proposals to legalise same-sex marriage, just under half (47%) reported that their local association had lost members over the issue and over half (51%) felt that it made the party less attractive to voters. Then in November, the polling company discovered that amongst those who had voted Liberal Democrat in 2010 but wouldn’t do so today (a key target group), those who were ‘less likely to vote Conservative’ as a result of these plans outnumber those ‘more likely to vote Conservative’, three to one.

According to another ComRes poll in February 2012, 70% of British adults agreed that ‘marriage should continue to be defined as a life-long exclusive commitment between a man and a woman.’

To dismiss these strongly held views as those of an extremist minority, or a minority at all, would be wrong, as would the assumption that this is an issue which will swiftly be forgotten and abandoned by those who have made their feelings clear. We feel it would also be wrong to assume that the passage of time will remove opposition to same sex marriage and the advocacy of traditional conservatism. The largest faith groups, the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and Islam ,are strongly opposed to same sex marriage in common with most practiced faiths in Britain. Equally, we are sure you will agree that the Conservative Party needs to do much more to attract ethnic minority voters to the Conservative cause. It is predicted that by 2030, 25% of voters will be of ethnic minority background, most of whom oppose same sex marriage.

The status quo reached in legislative terms over gay rights is now fair and equitable. We are, however, concerned that further attempts to legislate on issues relating to homosexual rights represents a skewed assessment of those who are in most need in our country and that, if passed, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill will serve neither to enhance homosexual rights further, nor improve the electoral position of the Conservative Party. We are of the opinion that there are a number of alternative compromise solutions including the extension of Civil Partnerships to all citizens, which would prevent the state from infringing on the institution of marriage or dictating to churches who were not adequately consulted.

Long-held religious and personal freedoms and the right to free speech will be adversely affected by the passing of this Bill. You will be aware of the recent judgment by the European Court of Human Rights that failed to secure ‘religious freedom’ protection to an Islington civil registrar who lost her job after seeking a conscientious exemption from presiding over civil partnership ceremonies for homosexual couples and a marriage counsellor who was dismissed after expressing a possible conscientious objection to providing same-sex sexual therapy. Because of these past precedents and the power of the ECHR to overrule British courts on matters relating to religious freedom and human rights, we do not feel the proposed “quadruple lock” in the Bill will protect the perceived rights of one minority will not simply be used to overrule the rights of the majority and impinge on values considered sacrosanct to our Party and country.

More time should be afforded to debate an issue of such gravity at Parliamentary Committee level, among the membership of the Conservative Party and with the country at large, and a final decision on the matter should be postponed until after the 2015 general election when the public would have had the chance to vote on a clear manifesto pledge.

As long-standing members of the Conservative Party we want to support the Party to victory, as we have done in every past election, in the belief that Conservative values will lead our nation to ever greater prosperity. Resignations from the Party are beginning to multiply and we fear that, if enacted, this Bill will lead to significant damage to the Conservative Party in the run up to the 2015 election.

42 Comments:

One would not be surprised if gay partners have already identified CoE and RC churches they will approach on the day it becomes law. You know how these fellows love to bask in the limelight with their ‘hard done by us’ pathos, and that peculiar gay smile you would rather not see on the person next to you in a lift...

I wish I could add my name to the letter. I'm not looking forward to how our country is descending. And unfortunately, I'm approaching the age where I will be too feeble to take up arms. But I wish well those in the younger generations of Englishmen who finally put an end to all of that is happening to us. I just hope I live to see it come to pass.

Homosexual *marriage* will be no more that a legal relationship dressed with the frills of a faux ceremony. Imagine the vows these people will exchange; perhaps its best not to think about such things.

As a legal contract it cannot be entered into whilst a CP is in place. Interestingly, neither will non-consummation (a natural impossibility) nor 'adultery' be ground for terminating the contract.

Dodo, the lack of ‘adultery’ provision has not been lost of the desperately unhappy who post on Pink News. Because there isn’t one, some are saying the fight must go on until there is, otherwise it won’t be true marriage, and thus ‘equality’ won’t have been achieved. The Inspector joshes you not !

Many thanks to Your Grace and the gentlemen who activated the protest.

I'm even delighted that they only once applied the tattered and debased word "gay."

It's a pity, though, that they saw fit to address the arch-traitor as "Dear" --- expensive? Certainly. Precious? Maybe. Beloved? Not by any measure of majority.

And Next? How about a few people following the example set today? Lets have some protests and demands about the euSSR and its ECHR, and all the rest of the authoritarian regime that's imposed itself on us. After all, why anyone thinks we all have to obey their orders beats me. None of us ever voted them into power, either.

Good luck and God Bless the Tory grass roots Click the link bellow, Items 25 to 28 on the communist agenda and how they are playing out in America. Isn't this also what is occurring here? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2932532/posts

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV. 26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy." All that remains is the repeal of the DoMA/Defense of Marriage Act by the SCOTUS. The U.S. military has been effectively undermined with the repeal of DADT/Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell. Many public school libraries, at all age levels, now have books which attempt to normalize homosexuality. Tolerance clubs are sprouting all over the country in high schools. The 4 mainline protestant churches – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church in the USA, Episcopal Church, and United Church of Christ – have all abandoned biblical teachings regarding homosexuality. Next up is the normalization of pedophilia. Below is an incomplete list of TV shows with homosexual characters/themes/actors/ writers. # TV Show Star Finish1 “Soap” 1977 19812 “Roseanne” 1988 19973 “The Real World” 1992 current4 “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” 1993 20035 “Friends” 1993 20046 “Ellen” 1994 19987 “South Park” 1997 current8 “Sex in the City” 1998 20049 “Will and Grace” 1998 200610 “Family Guy” 1999 current11 “Law & Order: SVU” 1999 current12 “House Hunters” (HGTV) 1999 current13 “TSG Presents … World’s Dumbest” 1999 current14 “Survivor” 2000 current15 “Six Feet Under” 2001 200516 “American Idol” 2002 current17 “Nip/Tuck” 2003 201018 “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” 2003 200819 “Rescue Me” 2004 201120 “House M.D.” 2004 201221 “Desperate Housewives” 2004 current22 “The Office” 2005 current23 “Grey’s Anatomy” 2005 current24 “American Dad” 2005 current25 “30 Rock” 2006 current26 “Glee” 2009 current27 “Modern Family” 2009 current28 “Archer” 2010 current29 “Pretty Little Liars” 2010 current30 “Happily Divorced” 2011 current31 “My Cat from Hell” (Animal Planet) 2011 current32 “American Horror Story” 2011 current33 “Kathy” 2012 current34 “Anger Management” 2012 current35 “The New Normal” 2012 current 27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch." The liberation theology movement within the Catholic Church and the "radical social justice" movements within various protestant denominations all advocate redistribution of wealth, i.e., socialism. 28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state." SCOTUS did this in 1963. The traditional Sunday bachelorette service on public school campuses for graduating high school seniors has been virtually eliminated. The ACLU is aggressively forcing public schools to remove all wall pictures and plaques which contain Christian references. NYC mayor Bloomberg has ordered that public schools may no longer be used for church services outside of school hours.

Dave may well be the last Conservative PM for some time if this bill goes ahead.The Conservatives have tried to 'spike the guns'of UKIP with their 'cast iron 'promise of a referendum on Europe(again)but Cameron is leading a fragmented party and this bill even if it goes through will further damage the Conservative party and their supporters. Cameron`s judgement into bringing further division into his Party will raise some interesting questions in the future.

The petition would have carried more weight if there had been a few less elderly white men delivering it. I admire your blog but I do think the world has completely changed and that the Tory leader realises this. The result is that it sounds like a generational thing and not a real issue.

This is a Christian site, so opposition to SSM must be Christian based. We either work with God, or nature if you are atheist / agnostic, or we don’t. God has given us a plan to live by and we reject all or part at our peril. Peril in the case of actively practicing homosexuals is AIDS. Those homosexuals who have a ‘long standing partner’ would not be surprised if they strayed, even once. To expect otherwise is futile, it goes with the territory. Said cuckolded partner just hopes their satiated loved one returns to them...

In this time of expected flu pandemics, remember this. The HIV body is already stressed out by anti viral treatment on a good day. These people will be among the first to succumb to such an epidemic. And there is always the possibility of hybrid strains of HIV resulting from exposure to a flu virus.

Roberta @ 20.07, human biology has not undergone an evolutionary shift in one generation. Babies are still the work of a man and a woman. Families still needed a protected status to ensure the future of society. Two poofs and a cocker spaniel aren't a family. Just because the mantra of 'Equality' is drowning every other voice in some lemming like rush to social chaos, it doesn't mean that it will always be so.

The cycle will complete and a reaction will set in.

Even Cameron's generation will understand this at some point, although Dave himself will go down with the ship of progressive fools.

The petition would have carried more weight if there had been a few less elderly white men delivering it.

I wondered how much time would elapse before someone said that. It's part of the contempt towards old age that is exhibited in western society. Old age is associated with weakness and impotence and frailty and sickness and death. But not wisdom? And why? Because Western man increasingly believes that this life is all he has. Old age represents the dusk of life. He therefore fears it and shrinks from it. He would rather return to his youth - filled as it is with arrogance and ignorance and foolishness. Modern man thinks himself better than his predecessors merely because he comes after his predecessors.

I am in my mid 80's and have supported and worked for the Conservative party since before I was old enough to vote. How in heaven's name have we allowed ourselves to get in such a mess. Will no one rid us of these loons before terminal damage is done to the party and country.

Well, Master/Mistress Forsythe @ 20:07...Some think in terms of "Protests" and "Demands" rather than of grovelling in Petition at the feet of dictators or potentates.

In response, let the Masters' Intermediaries at least show themselves for the Useful Idiots they are. The camoron may have a high forehead, but somebody's stuffed the skull behind it full of red cotton wool.

Oh - and by the way - contempt for age betrays assimilation of Marxist mechanisms for Divide and Conquer. One wonders, then: At what specific age will you and yours deactivate yourselves and your Rights (if you have any)?

Might you not, instead, consider the possibility that members previous generations were often better educated than those of the last one or two? In addition, there is a venerable notion that intelligent elderly people have, through education coupled with experience, accumulated something that used to be revered as "Wisdom." Note that the types invovled here also have access to "technology." Indeed, we contributed to its development, so we know how and whence it's made; and we know its capacity for sorcery --- depending on who uses it.

So however much you despise us, remember that we, too, may yet rise up. Furthermore, in demanding restitution of our "Rights," we are concerned to establish some for you. [Because you do know that the Enemy have spirited them all away, don't you?]

Old Blue Eyes, you have 3 decades on this man, but your pain is felt just as much. It’s on to UKIP, the new natural home of the patriot. Note, no mention of left or right - them days are over. And if any of us who have made the journey ever encounter guilt, we need only to remember these times, the early twenty tens, that sent us on our way...

The alienation of youth is a terrible waste of lives, disrupts their communities, and is a threat to our way of life.

Now more than ever we need to strengthen all young people’s awareness of their background and culture, where they come from, and the struggles their families have overcome in the past and the aspirations and progress that their families have achieved. Young people need context – biological, cultural and social context to find out who they are, to know where they have come from, and to realise what they can be. Grandparents, cousins and the extended family of blood relatives are central to giving young people a real sense of purpose and aspiration to their lives.

Children should know that they are an integral, purposeful part of their families continuing tapestry. Children should not believe that they are just the result of some random coupling, or designer accessories for adults wanting more than a pet.

In the past we could perhaps rely on ‘the village’ to bring up each child. With today’s increased mobility, we can’t. Blood relationships are more important than ever.

Letting children know that their creation was expected and desired by an entire family is the most important reason for keeping marriage as a public commitment between one man and one woman, potential parents, for the purpose of bringing children into the world.

Robbing children of that birth-right, by confusing rather than clarifying the significance of marriage, will risk massive increases in youth alienation, decimation of youth self-esteem, and the further destruction of the central institutional foundation of our civilisation – our families.

The next step is to sue Gospel preachers for causing psychological harm and then to outlaw the Bible as hate speech. In my Kindle novel 'Darwin's Adders: A Chronicle of Pagan England 2089' I envisage the Bible compulsorily replaced by a new 'Rainbow Testament'.

If this rumpus had occurred a year or more ago I think Cameron would have been rattled but now it is probably too late. He knows that he is already regarded as a man without convictions and thinks that same-sex marriage is a (not) heaven-sent opportunity to prove his critics wrong.

He is probably not too worried about the damage that will be done to the Conservative Party because he, and the rest of the cabinet, both Tory and Lib-Dem, already know that a Labour victory is a likely outcome.

He probably hasn't completely given up hope. The promise of referendum on EU membership after (not before) the next general election might win the votes of those who have forgotten that he promised us a vote on the last EU treaty. More sympathetic coverage from the BBC and the broadsheets, not just the Guardian, if the same-sex marriage bill is passed, might also help him. However he probably realises that those two things only give the Tories an outside chance.

Therefore David Cameron is probably looking to his legacy. He hopes that he will go down in history as a great reforming prime minister. A modern Wilberforce who liberated the Gays while, unlike Wilberforce, being forced to content with countless other problems in his role as head of government.

Cameron probably believes that he will woo the gay vote through this policy. He won't. They will continue to support Labour and the LibDems who are the traditional repositories for humanists and theophobes, and who will be largely reponsible for this obnoxious policy beoming law. Camoeron will get nothing in return except a fractured party and probably a Labour win in 2015. What a numpty!

Not content with overseeing our economic demise, he now wants to oversee our moral decline too.

Everyone who votes for this policy tomorrow will be guilty of bringing further shame and disgrace on this nation. They are following their manufactured gods of "equality" (nothing to do with justice or fairness) and political correctness. I think the scriptures indicate that people who follow false gods tend to end up being devoured by them

I feel there are deeper motives behind Cameron's resolute stance on this, but they are not obvious or easy to discover. He attempts to wreck his party for what? a forlorn posturing about "equal rights" for a minority group?.He makes promises about an in/out referendum - after the next election, if he wins! then scuttles the chances of victory. Either he has escaped from a secure unit, or he is a devious weasel, playing a dangerous game.

What worries me is the fact that no Christian has commented on the possible outcome of this venture & the effect that it will have on us all.Cameron is opposing Almighty God & God will not be mocked. Their are strong precedents for this in scripture. When Israel sinned, God warned them of the consequences & reproved them by allowing other nations to successfully wage war against them. Overthrow them & become their masters, taking them into slavery & exile. All the people suffered for the sins of the rulers, not just the guilty.I do not know what will befall this nation, economic collapse, disease, nuclear reactor meltdown, maybe a 9/11 atrocity perhaps a combination of several of these. Maybe if we repent & turn back to God with remorse as Nineveh did we can avoid God's Judgement & avoid His Wrath.

In my thinking the issues at stake are much bigger than what Cameron proclaims. It's not just a case of "equality" for homosexuals. We are ALL on the sinking ship together.If the Captain's gone mad he MUST be replaced.

My thoughts exactly. Its not something that is likely to be discussed at cabinet meetings but yes, God WILL punish this nation, and not just with AIDS and economic decline. I see this nation sleep-walking into a pit of moral decrepitutde. Look at the abominable case of Mr Saville. That is what happens when you have a society without moral boundaries and "sexual freedom". No use complaining your children were sexually abused if you helped promote an amoral society by voting for a Godless political system

I doubt that that fact troubled her - nowhere did she insinuate that the constitutional guarantee against Congress' establishment of a religion happened after or at the same time as the invention of television programs.

Well I think that older people have lots of good things to tell us younger people, rather than dismissing them or suggesting a legalisation of assisted suicide- something which will happen with the advent of the secular -liberal state.

Correct. Us old folk might not be as physically capable as you young ones, but we still have a lot to give to the world. I don't fear death, but I praise my creator for every day I have left on this planet. The socialist- secularists will put paid to that, when legalised suicide is compulsory at the age of 70. You can imagine it going through their utilitarian minds right now...

About His Grace:

Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’ It is the fusion of the two in public life, and the necessity for a wider understanding of their complex symbiosis, which leads His Grace to write on these very sensitive issues.

Cranmer's Law:

"It hath been found by experience that no matter how decent, intelligent or thoughtful the reasoning of a conservative may be, as an argument with a liberal is advanced, the probability of being accused of ‘bigotry’, ‘hatred’ or ‘intolerance’ approaches 1 (100%).”

Follow His Grace on

The cost of His Grace's conviction:

His Grace's bottom line:

Freedom of speech must be tolerated, and everyone living in the United Kingdom must accept that they may be insulted about their own beliefs, or indeed be offended, and that is something which they must simply endure, not least because some suffer fates far worse. Comments on articles are therefore unmoderated, but do not necessarily reflect the views of Cranmer. Comments that are off-topic, gratuitously offensive, libelous, or otherwise irritating, may be summarily deleted. However, the fact that particular comments remain on any thread does not constitute their endorsement by Cranmer; it may simply be that he considers them to be intelligent and erudite contributions to religio-political discourse...or not.

The Anglican Communion has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961

British Conservatism's greatest:

The epithet of 'great' can be applied only to those who were defining leaders who successfully articulated and embodied the Conservatism of their age. They combined in their personal styles, priorities and policies, as Edmund Burke would say, 'a disposition to preserve' with an 'ability to improve'.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS.(Prime Minister 1979-1990)

We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC.(Prime Minister 1957-1963)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can).(Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am not struck so much by the diversity of testimony as by the many-sidedness of truth.Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC.(Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937)

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC.(Prime Minister 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield.(Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.Sir Robert Peel, Bt.(Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

I consider the right of election as a public trust, granted not for the benefit of the individual, but for the public good.Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.(Prime Minister 1812-1827)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)